Why Does My Faith... Poem by David Lewis Paget

I sang in the choir when I was young,
In surplice, ruff, and gown,
I bent my head to the cherubim
And cast my eyes to the ground,
I read your word in the Holy Book
And swore to be good and true
While living in fear of an Awe-ful God,
A life spent, looking for you.

My mind was full of heaven and hell
And the things that I shouldn’t do,
But the world seemed bent on a wayward course
All done in the name of You…
For ‘Christ Almighty’ I heard on lips
That shouldn’t have breathed their sin,
And ‘Jesus Christ’ is a dirty word…
But why does my faith grow thin?

The world has turned to greed and lust,
To hate, to me for mine,
And life is cheap on the empty streets
Where drugs are the bottom line,
Where children murder their parents
And the parents murder their young,
Where everyone has a mobile phone
But none with your number on.

It’s long since I tossed heaven and hell
To rot in a garbage bin
But still maintained my faith in you,
Your pain in an earthly skin;
I still believe in an afterlife,
And I know that you’ll see us in,
I’m closer to you than I’ve ever been
So why does my faith grow thin?